Many authentication strategies limit the number of separate user identities or secrets that can be authenticated. For example, some drive lock mechanisms only support authentication of a single password. To authenticate a drive lock password, a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) requests that a user enter a password during a pre-boot environment and provides the value entered by the user to the hard drive. If the password is correct, the hard drive will start spinning (i.e., the drive is “unlocked”). If the password is incorrect, the drive will not spin (i.e., the drive is “locked”). This pre-boot authentication feature is somewhat incompatible in a multi-user environment (e.g., a workplace). While a common password could be shared by multiple users (enabling any of multiple users to be authenticated using the same password), security and user-friendliness are better served using individualized passwords. Furthermore, other authentication processes (e.g., smartcard or biometric processes) may be associated with individual users rather than groups. Thus, an authentication strategy that involves authenticating a single secret or a limited number of secrets becomes incompatible, or at least inconvenient, in a multi-user environment where authenticating many user identities or secrets is desirable.